Method for automated stacking of wood products

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for stacking wood products. In some embodiments, the disclosure the steps of designing at least two types of engineered wood products via a software application; producing the at least two types of engineered wood products based on the designs utilizing a saw in conjunction with the software application; designating, via the software application, at least two bins to hold the at least two different types of engineered wood products; selecting a first bin for depositing a first type of engineered wood product; selecting a second bin for depositing a second type of engineered wood product; automatically placing the first type of engineered wood product into the first bin; and automatically placing the second type of engineered wood product into the second bin. The at least two types of engineered wood products are at least two of: panels, I-joists, headers and dimensional lumber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/859,986,filed on Sep. 24, 2007, and titled “Method for Sorting Engineered WoodProducts,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally to a computer-implemented method forautomated stacking of engineered of wood products.

BACKGROUND

Engineered panels are formed from raw materials which are pressed andheated to form a wood or wood-containing product. The raw materials maybe, for example, strands, chips, wafers, fiber, flour, particles, or thelike. Composite panels, such as oriented strandboard (OSB), flakeboard,waferboard or TimberStrand® laminated lumber, are generally comprised ofbonding resin (adhesive), wax and wooden strands. These products aretypically manufactured in several major stages, which include stranding,screening, drying, blending, forming, pressing, and finishing.

Once the engineered wood products (EWP) are formed, they are stacked. Inan example, veneer stacking systems currently in use transport eachveneer sheet to a bin. The veneer product is placed into the bins, andno special handling requirements for the material are required. Once thebin reaches a pre-determined height, it will lower and discharge the 4foot by 8 foot sheets of veneer product. Because the veneer is uniformin dimension, no special handling devices are required. Also on themarket are crane systems that transport the engineered wood products.These systems are cumbersome and slow.

Designers use custom software, such as that offered by Weyerhaeuser, todesign a residential home structure using engineered wood products. Whenthe structure is designed and the proper size engineered wood productmembers are identified, an electronic file is created for each piece ofEWP for the structure that identifies the length, special cuts, andlabeling. To increase efficiency of cutting, several structures arebatched together in another Weyerhaeuser custom software package thatoptimizes the use of each board of EWP that the special pieces will becut from. The traditional outfeed systems offered by known saw linesutilize a manual outfeed pull chain. Operators physically select andgrasp the newly cut engineered wood products and pull them into a cart.There are many disadvantages with this system, the greatest of which areergonomic and safety concerns. Thus, a need exists for a stacking systemfor wood products that is used in conjunction with specific handlingrequirements.

SUMMARY

The following summary is provided for the benefit of the reader only andis not intended to limit in any way the invention as set forth by theclaims. The present disclosure is directed generally towards generallyto a computer-implemented method for automated stacking of engineered ofwood products.

In some embodiments, the disclosure includes a computer-implementedmethod for sorting engineered wood products, the method comprising thesteps of designing at least two types of engineered wood products via asoftware application; producing the at least two types of engineeredwood products based on the designs utilizing a saw in conjunction withthe software application; designating, via the software application, atleast two bins to hold the at least two different types of engineeredwood products; selecting a first bin for depositing a first type ofengineered wood product; selecting a second bin for depositing a secondtype of engineered wood product; automatically placing the first type ofengineered wood product into the first bin; and automatically placingthe second type of engineered wood product into the second bin. The atleast two types of engineered wood products are at least two of: panels,I-joists, headers and dimensional lumber. Further aspects are directedtowards a computer readable storage medium storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed, cause a computing system to perform amethod for sorting engineered wood products, the method described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is better understood by reading the followingdescription of non-limitative embodiments with reference to the attacheddrawings wherein like parts of each of the figures are identified by thesame reference characters, and are briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of a stacking system according toembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the stacking system from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an end view of the stacking system from FIG. 1 aswood enters the system;

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the stacking system from FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates a sweep arm conveyor for the stacking system fromFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates bin pivot gates for the stacking system from FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 illustrates a nesting device for the stacking system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 illustrates an elevating roller conveyor for the stacking systemof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart for steps associated with operatingstacking systems according to embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes a computer-implemented method forautomated stacking of engineered of wood products. Certain specificdetails are set forth in the following description and FIGS. 1-9 toprovide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of thedisclosure. Well-known structures, systems, and methods often associatedwith such systems have not been shown or described in details to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the description of various embodiments of thedisclosure. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the relevant artwill understand that additional embodiments of the disclosure may bepracticed without several of the details described below.

The present disclosure involves a system for automating a process fromdesign of a structural application to cutting and sorting. The systemutilizes, in an embodiment, a saw, such as a Hundegger SC-1 saw toprocess engineered wood products into exact components. These exactcomponents are selected via, for example, design software for a floorsystem. One example of this type of software is iLevel Javelin® softwareoffered by Weyerhaeuser Company, in which a designer models an entirehouse's structural frame, including components such as joists, headers,beams, rimboard or the like. The dimensions and labeling for individualmembers of the structure are extracted from the model designed by thesoftware and captured. “Captured” refers to a state at which thespecific length, cuts (i.e., bevels or angles), and/or labeling definedin the drawing and stored in an electronic file can be, or are in fact,translated to saw file language. In an embodiment, capturing isaccomplished by, for example, Stellar® software offered by WeyerhaeuserCompany. This software batches and optimizes the products to be cut onthe saw and develops sawing control instructions. The instructions areused by the saw to process the parts according to the house structuredesign.

In an embodiment, a system is provided for sorting engineered woodproducts. The system has a central processing unit; a sawing device inconnection with the central processing unit wherein the sawing deviceperforms a sawing function based on specifications communicated by thecentral processing unit for creating the engineered wood productswherein the sawing device creates at least two types of engineered woodproducts; a transport conveyor located downstream from the sawingdevice; and two or more bins located adjacent to the transport conveyorwherein at least two of the two or more bins are designated for storingdifferent types of engineered wood products wherein each of the bins hasa bin pivot gate and further wherein the transport conveyor transportsthe engineered wood products toward the two or more bins; wherein thecentral processing unit delivers a first command to move a first binpivot gate to allow placement of one type of engineered wood productinto a first bin and delivers a second command to move a second binpivot gate to allow placement of a second type of engineered woodproduct into a second bin.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises software in connectionwith the central processing unit wherein the engineered wood productsare designed within the software. The system may further comprise anesting device associated with the bin. In an embodiment, the systemfurther comprises a roller conveyor within one of the bins which raisesor lowers based on a number of engineered wood products within the bin.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises a tamping deviceassociated with the bin.

In an embodiment, the engineered wood products are at least two of:panels, I-joists, headers and dimensional lumber.

In an embodiment, the engineered wood products are approximately 50 feetin length.

In an embodiment, the transport conveyor is in connected with a rollerchain.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises a gripper wagon adjacentthe saw wherein the gripper wagon transports the engineered woodproducts from the sawing device to the transport conveyor.

In an embodiment, a method is provided for sorting engineered woodproducts. The method comprises the steps of: designing at least twotypes of engineered wood products via a software application; producingthe at least two types of engineered wood products based on the designsutilizing a saw in conjunction with the software application;designating, via the software application, at least two bins to hold theat least two different types of engineered wood products; selecting afirst bin for depositing a first type of engineered wood product;selecting a second bin for depositing a second type of engineered woodproduct; automatically placing the first type of engineered wood productinto the first bin; and automatically placing the second type ofengineered wood product into the second bin.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of rotating theengineered wood product when it is placed in the first bin.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of placing a pluralityof the first type of engineered wood products into the first bin tocreate a stack of first engineered wood products.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of lowering the stackof first engineered wood products when a quota is reached.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of detecting a heightof the stack within the first bin.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of discharging thestack from the bin.

In an embodiment, the engineered wood products are at least two of:panels, I-joists, headers and dimensional lumber.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of aligning theplurality of engineered wood products.

In an embodiment, a method is provided for sorting engineered woodproducts. The method comprises the steps of: designing at least twotypes of engineered wood products via a software application wherein thetwo types of engineered wood products define a first bundle; producingthe at least two types of engineered wood products based on the designsutilizing a saw in conjunction with the software application;designating, via the software application, at least two bins to hold theat least two different bundles of engineered wood products; selecting afirst bin for depositing the first bundle of engineered wood product;selecting a second bin for depositing a second bundle of engineered woodproduct; automatically placing the first bundle of engineered woodproducts into the first bin; and automatically placing the second bundleof engineered wood products into the second bin.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of detecting a heightof the first bundle within the first bin.

In an embodiment, the method has the further step of lowering the firstbundle based on its height.

In an embodiment, an entry level output system may produce engineeredwood product at approximately a 1000 lineal ft/hr processing rate. Astandard system may produce engineered wood product at approximately a2500 lineal ft/hr processing rate. The high output system may produceengineered wood product at approximately a 3000 lineal ft/hr processingrate. Each level requires an increased amount of automation. The highestlevel of automation, high output, may use an automated system tosequence and feed the engineered wood products into, for example, theHundegger Saw which maximizes the output of the saw. As the parts areprocessed by the saw, they are discharged and sent to an outfeed systemthat will stack the engineered wood products according to the parametersdefined by, for example, a workstation operator. It should be noted thatan operator may be required to input the parameters into computersutilized in the system. The parameters may include options, such aswhich engineered wood products to run/produce; into which bin each pieceprocessed by the saw would be stacked; or the size of the stack.

This automated system of the present invention differs greatly from thetraditional outfeed pull chain systems offered by other saw lines. Aspreviously stated, with respect to known saw lines, when utilizing amanual outfeed pull chain, operators physically select and grasp thenewly cut engineered wood products and pull them into a cart. A outfeedpull chain is a conveyor system that singulates wood as it istransported. An operator can physically select each board for sortingand manually pull it into a cart/bin. There are many disadvantages withthis system, the greatest of which are ergonomic and safety concerns.The system of the present invention may handle multiple lengths andwidths of engineered wood products which exit the saw area and stackthem in the order that the, for example, Stellar® software specifies.Utilizing simple conveying parts, such as transport chains that arereadily available in the market, this system conveys each part to aparticular, or designated, bin. Transport chains utilize a motor whichdrives a gear reducer that will, in turn, drive a sprocket and shaftthat has conveyor chain sprockets attached to it. When the shaft isrotated, the conveyor chain is moved. These components are describedfurther below, and illustrated in FIG. 5. Each bin may have a gate ordoor that, for example, pivots to an open position and allows theengineered wood product component to, in essence, “drop” in. Each bin isequipped with a nesting device that will automatically “nest” acomponent, such as the TJI-Joist® offered by Weyerhaeuser Company, priorto stacking. Nesting, for example, a TJI-Joist® refers to fitting theflanges of one board inside the flanges of another. For example, onemight stack the joists with the flanges resting on top of each other;however, this might require a greater space. If a component such as aTJI-Joist® is not being produced, the automatic “nesting” device isretracted out of the bin. The engineered wood product header material isallowed to be placed directly onto the stack of engineered woodproducts, such as, Microllam®, Parallam® or Timberstrand®. The height ofeach stack is controlled by an elevating conveyor as the stack is built.The elevating conveyor may be in connection with the CPU via, forexample, through a light sensing device which emits a light beam. Whenthe light beam is broken, the CPU is notified to lower the elevatingconveyor until the light beam is once again detected. Such light beamdevices are known in the industry. When instructed by the software thatthe last piece for that bundle or stack of engineered wood products isreceived, the elevating conveyor will lower to a discharging positionand convey the full bundle out of the bin. In an embodiment, each bin iscapable of handling lengths up to 50′ and widths of 9.5″ to 18″. Itshould be understood, however, that any dimensions may be utilized withrespect to bin size and/or dimensions of EWP which can be contemplatedby one of ordinary skill in the art.

EWP Automatic Stacking Device

The design of the stacking system utilizes five modules. Theconfiguration of the stacking system is referenced in FIGS. 1-8. Thestacking system is made of an external support system which may beconstructed from, for example, structural steel. Four corner legs 2 maysupport long structural steel beams 4 from which the transport conveyor,i.e., sweep arm conveyor 6 is supported. Also mounted on top of the longstructural steel beams is the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) thatreceives input from sensing devices and controls the machine. SuchProgrammable Logic Controllers are generally known to those skilled inthe art.

The transport conveyor, or sweep arm conveyor 6, is comprised of a longsweep arm that is connected to a roller chain 14 on each end. Ahydraulic motor 16 drives a shaft 18 that contains, for example, twosprockets 20 that move the sweep arm 6. The PLC will activate ordeactivate the hydraulic motor 16 based on signals from a sensing devicemounted to the transport steel runners 24.

The transport steel runners 24 is made up of, for example, 2 inch widesteel that may have an outer plastic surface to reduce friction. Thetransport steel runners 24 may be, for example, two feet long and may bein line with a retractable bin pivot gate 26. The gate 26 may have alength in a range from 26 inches to 48 inches. This series of transportsteel runners 24 and bin pivot gates 26 may repeat for whatever sizestacking system is desired.

The bin pivot gate actuating arm 30 is part of a lever arm system thatmay rotate the bin pivot gate 26 90 degrees to open the bin 32. The binpivot gate actuating arm 30 is activated by, for example, a hydrauliccylinder 34 that is controlled by the PLC.

Inside each bin may be a nesting device 36 which, in one embodiment, maybe in the form of a tube having a width in a range from 18 inches to 24inches and may be constructed from, for example, steel or like material.The nesting device 36 may hold engineered wood products, such as, forexample, the TJI-Joists® when they enter the bin 32. The nesting device36 will rotate 90 degrees to allow the TJI-Joists® to fall onto theelevating roller conveyor 46. The nesting device 36 is attached to anesting device actuating arm 39 as seen in FIG. 7. A hydraulic cylinder40 moves the nesting device actuating arm 39 which, in turn, rotates thenesting device 36 90 degrees.

Inside each bin 32 may also be a tamping device 42 which, in oneembodiment may be in the form of a square plate having dimensions in arange from 4 inches to 6 inches. The plate 42 may be mounted on an aircylinder 44. When the cylinder 44 extends, the plate 42 moves in anupstream direction until restricted by the EWP. The cylinder 44 thenretracts.

Each bin may also have an elevating roller conveyor 46 having, forexample, 4 inch steel rollers mounted every 40 inches. The rollerconveyor 46 may be driven by a hydraulic motor 56. The elevating rollerconveyor 46 is cantilever mounted to support legs 48. At each leg may bea roller chain 50 that is connected to the elevating roller conveyor 46.At the base of the support legs 48 may be a shaft 52 with sprockets 54.The shaft 52 is connected to a reversible hydraulic motor 56 whichraises and lowers the elevating roller conveyor 46.

Sequence of Operation

Referring now to FIG. 9, as the parts are processed by the sawingsystem, as shown at step 101, they are discharged. The softwareoptimizes not only for reduced waste and efficient use of the storagelength wood, but also for proper stacking by order.

The stacking system may receive the cut pieces from the saw via atransporting device, such as the gripper wagon. The gripper wagon willposition each piece as it is to be stacked, as shown at step 102. Thestacking system will receive the bin order signal from the software, asshown at step 103, as each piece is processed and positioned by thegripper wagon. As the piece is released by the gripper wagon, it willenter the stack infeed area 24. The stacking system senses that thepiece that was most recently cut is in position and ready to betransported to the bin. The stacking system will activate and transportthe piece to the appropriate bin via the sweep arm transport conveyor 6,as shown at step 104 in FIG. 9. More specifically, the sweep armconveyor 6 is driven by a motor/chain conveyor system 16, 18 at a rateof, for example, 750 fpm. The sweep arm conveyor 6 is connected to thesweep arm roller chain 14 and hangs sufficiently low to make contactwith a board that is, for example, 1.5 inches in thickness or greater.The sweep arm conveyor 6 may then drag the board across the stackertransport steel runners 24 until it gets to the designated bin 32.

The bin pivot gate arms 26 for the bin 32 open to receive the piece, asshown at step 105. The piece will fall into the bin onto the nestingdevice 36 if, for example, the specific piece, such as the TJI-Joist® isbeing processed, or onto the elevating roller conveyor 46 if engineeredwood product header material, such as Microllam®, Parallam®, orTimberstrand® is being processed, as shown at decision 106.

If, for example, TJI-Joist® material is being run/produced, the nestingstep will be performed, as shown at step 106 a. This is accomplished bytamping the first TJI-Joist® against a fence, upstream in a machinedirection. Tamping is an operation that ensures all boards in the stackalign to a straight line. In this manner, a rectangle-shaped stack maybe created and/or maintained. This is accomplished by the tamping device42, which in one embodiment is in the form of a round disk mounted on acylinder 44 that will push the boards against a straight edge. When thesecond TJI-Joist® enters the bin 32, it will “nest” into the flange ofthe first TJI-Joist®. When this is complete, the nesting device 36 willretract via the nesting device actuating arm 39 and drop the two nestedTJI-Joists onto the elevating roller conveyor 46 that will stack theTJI-Joists® in a nested order.

If engineered wood product header material is being stacked, the nestingdevice 36 will remain retracted and allow the header material to falldirectly onto the elevating roller conveyor 46. As the elevating rollerconveyor 46 fills, it will index down. To clarify, as stated above, asthe stack is being made within the bin 32, a light sensor is broken,indicating to the CPU to move the elevating roller conveyor 46 down(indexing) to allow the next board to fall into the bin 32. The tampingdevice 42 will square the engineered wood product headers as they arestacked. The software may already be aware of how many pieces areassigned to each bin 32. As the last piece enters the bin 32, thestacker PLC will be instructed of this, as shown at decision 107. ThePLC will then instruct that bin 32 to discharge. The elevating rollerconveyor 46 will lower to a “home” position, as shown at step 107 a.When the elevating roller conveyor 46 lowers to its' home position, ahydraulic drive motor 56 will power the roller conveyor 46 and willpower the stack of wood out of the bin for the banding process, as shownat step 107 b. The grouped products may then be shipped, as shown atstep 107 c.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system/methoddescribed herein may be implemented on any computing system or device.Suitable computing systems or devices include personal computers, servercomputers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, networkdevices, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computingenvironments that include any of the foregoing, and the like. Suchcomputing systems or devices may include one or more processors thatexecute software to perform the functions described herein. Processorsinclude programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors,programmable controllers, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), or the like, or acombination of such devices. Software may be stored in memory, such asrandom access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, or thelike, or a combination of such components. Software may also be storedin one or more storage devices, such as magnetic or optical based disks,flash memory devices, or any other type of non-volatile storage mediumfor storing data. Software may include one or more program modules whichinclude routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. The functionality of the program modules may be combined ordistributed as desired in various embodiments.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the specific embodimentsof the disclosure have been described herein for purposes ofillustration, but that various modifications may be made withoutdeviating from the disclosure. Aspects of the disclosure described inthe context of particular embodiments may be combined or eliminated inother embodiments. Further, while advantages associated with certainembodiments of the disclosure may have been described in the context ofthose embodiments, other embodiments may also exhibit such advantages,and not all embodiments need necessarily exhibit such advantages to fallwithin the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the invention is notlimited except as by the appended claims.

1. A computer-implemented method for sorting engineered wood products,the method comprising the steps of: designing at least two types ofengineered wood products via a software application; producing the atleast two types of engineered wood products based on the designsutilizing a saw in conjunction with the software application;designating, via the software application, at least two bins to hold theat least two different types of engineered wood products; selecting afirst bin for depositing a first type of engineered wood product;selecting a second bin for depositing a second type of engineered woodproduct; automatically placing the first type of engineered wood productinto the first bin; and automatically placing the second type ofengineered wood product into the second bin; wherein the at least twotypes of engineered wood products are at least two of: panels, I-joists,headers and dimensional lumber.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: rotating the engineered wood product when it isplaced in the first bin.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe step of: placing a plurality of the first type of engineered woodproducts into the first bin to create a stack of first engineered woodproducts.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of:lowering the stack of first engineered wood products when a quota isreached.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of:detecting a height of the stack within the first bin.
 6. The method ofclaim 3, further comprising the step of: discharging the stack from thebin.
 7. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of: aligningthe plurality of engineered wood products.
 8. A computer-implementedmethod for sorting engineered wood products, the method comprising thesteps of: designing at least two types of engineered wood products via asoftware application wherein the at least two types of engineered woodproducts define a first bundle; producing the at least two types ofengineered wood products based on the designs utilizing a saw inconjunction with the software application; designating, via the softwareapplication, at least two bins to hold the first bundle and at least asecond bundle of engineered wood products; selecting a first bin fordepositing the first bundle of engineered wood product; selecting asecond bin for depositing a second bundle of engineered wood product;automatically placing the first bundle of engineered wood products intothe first bin; and automatically placing the second bundle of engineeredwood products into the second bin; wherein the at least two types ofengineered wood products are at least two of: panels, I-joists, headersand dimensional lumber.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising thestep of: detecting a height of the first bundle within the first bin.10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: lowering thefirst bundle based on its height.
 11. A computer-readable storage mediumstoring computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause acomputing system to perform a method for sorting engineered woodproducts, the method comprising the steps of: designing at least twotypes of engineered wood products via a software application; producingthe at least two types of engineered wood products based on the designsutilizing a saw in conjunction with the software application;designating, via the software application, at least two bins to hold theat least two different types of engineered wood products; selecting afirst bin for depositing a first type of engineered wood product;selecting a second bin for depositing a second type of engineered woodproduct; automatically placing the first type of engineered wood productinto the first bin; and automatically placing the second type ofengineered wood product into the second bin; wherein the at least twotypes of engineered wood products are at least two of: panels, I-joists,headers and dimensional lumber.